White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders holds the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, April 13, 2018.In the interview, Comey says the president asked him to investigate the unverified and salacious allegations in the infamous dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in order to "prove that it didn't happen."
Among the allegations, which Trump has vehemently denied, was an alleged sexual encounter with prostitutes in Russia in 2013. Comey said he recalled Trump discussing the dossier during a dinner with the president on Jan. 27, 2017.
“He may want me to investigate it to prove that it didn't happen," Comey recalled in the interview. "And then he says something that distracted me because he said, you know, ‘If there's even a 1 percent chance my wife thinks that's true, that's terrible.’
“‘And I remember thinking, ‘How could your wife think there's a 1 percent chance you were with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow?’ I'm a flawed human being, but there is literally zero chance that my wife would think that was true," Comey recalled during the interview. "So, what kind of marriage to what kind of man does your wife think [that] there's only a 99 percent chance you didn't do that?”
Comey also claimed that Trump then said, “I may order you to investigate that.”
The dossier and its allegations have caused great consternation for the president since their existence was revealed last January and Trump has tweeted extensively about it.
Trump has repeatedly attempted to brand Comey as a liar and suggested he leaked classified information to reporters.